[Simon Gerrard]

From talking to a wide variety of people on the subject of Low Moisture Cleaning it seems that it is a good idea to have a number of cleaning methods at your disposal rather than just one whether that be HWE or LM.

[jasonl]

It is my only method,  it is the old 80/20  rule,  I would gain 20% profit extra with a TM, but have to invest so much more that it does not fit my business.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Simon

Very much like you, in 11 years of cleaning I've never offered it and as far as I am aware found iv'e never lost a job for not doing so. The couple of jobs I've walked from because HWE wouldn't have been safe have been neither here nor there.

That said, I've followed your recent posts with interest as I have started to think that for the very small outlay involved it might just be to my benefit to have some LM equipment that i can use as required. I seem to be winning quite a lot of commercail quotes at present and i'm thinking I might do the jobs more quickly even though in most cases I have priced it on HWE mehtods.

SO I'm learning a lot from your enquiries and questions but LM will never replace what I do now. If my business model isn't broke then why fix it?

Rog

[Mike Halliday]

until the motor blow up  on my big orbital last week i was doing a fair bit LM cleaning, I was even doing both HWE & Lm in the same house.

because my rotary ( orbital) has no scrub brush I agitate with a bonnet. So my procedure of cleaning is basically Lm cleaning using either Nemesis or pureclean then rinsing. those that are acceptable are left, any that are still showing signs of soil get rinsed with HWE.

mike

[robert meldrum]

Roger's response is perfectly reasonable and based on business sense. Jasonl of course could post the same message and it would make perfect business sense to him.

I used H/W/E for about 15 years before buying a Texatherm system which amazed me. The only reason I gave it up was the weight of the beast and the fact that my back was in a really bad state at the time I used it. Had it been a lighter machine - preferably O/P - I would have been exclusively O/P on carpets with a medium rated portable for upholstery.

[Dave Roberts]

'Low Moisture' Carpet Cleaning does not refer to one method in my opinion, in that way that Hot Water Extraction does. 

There are various types of low moisture methods.  For example, I offer three carpet cleaning methods which are all 'low moisture' methods.

I suspect that each business has been built up by good results by the operator, rather than the method.   So it's perfectly feasible to have built a solid business and customer base utilizing just HWE, as it is for someone like Jason using just LM, and for people who use different methods.   Joe Public isn't too fussed with our methods; just our results.

[Simon Gerrard]

Roger,
I'm thinking a long similar lines, indeed with three RX20's and the drive plates to convert them to bonneting, I thought why not give it a go if only to test my long held view (probably unfairly, it has to be said) that it is crap. Clearly it does work, to an extent, but I'm not convinced enough as yet to offer it as a service and put my name to it as I would any other job. I think it is going to be journey, but hopefully a journey worth taking.

Simon

[Andrew Briscoe]

Personally i am niether for or against LM, i use it on occasions on some commercial,
i prefer to use my TM or Scorpion, depending on access, however if using hwe, i sometimes go over it with a bonnet, and there is a slight transfer of dirt or should i say colour to the pad.

On some occasions when i have padded only, i have gone over it with the TM and the soil that comes out is quite significant.

My opinion for commercial will always be to hwe, followed by a pad.

Siting on the fence.

Andrew

[Steve Gunn]

Personally i am niether for or against LM, i use it on occasions on some commercial,
i prefer to use my TM or Scorpion, depending on access, however if using hwe, i sometimes go over it with a bonnet, and there is a slight transfer of dirt or should i say colour to the pad.

On some occasions when i have padded only, i have gone over it with the TM and the soil that comes out is quite significant.

My opinion for commercial will always be to hwe, followed by a pad.

Siting on the fence.

Andrew

I'm the same as Andrew t/m first if no access then l/m. Recently did a job down on the Quayside no access so l/m only option or porty opted for l/m customer was over the moon

[andrew christopher]

Quote:
 
customer was over the moon


surelyt hats what we all want, does it matter how we get there as long as customer is happy and we get paid.



Im the same as andrew and steve, got truck mount got rotary got envirodri dont really care which is "best" as long as customer happy and i get paid, get tips sometimes so must be ok whatever im doing!

[wynne jones]

I l like the idea of doing   prespray and agitation as a LM and then you can rinse if necesarry, thats smart thinking. A lot of mine are mingers but that way you have the option if the results are surprising.

[Neil Williams]

On some occasions when i have padded only, i have gone over it with the TM and the soil that comes out is quite significant.

Picking up on what Jason said some time ago, I run my tex pad over an area done by my scorpian, and I was amazed by the level of dirt transfered onto the pad, perhaps we are all doing things wrong
Either way I have decided to go by using both systems, HWE then pad

[Simon Gerrard]

Neil,

I think you might be right. I posted a picture on the LM Cleaning thread of a carpet after HWE that looked awful but then looked great after we padded over it. The client had previously used an LM company and weren't happy with the result (re-soiled quickly) and so got us in this time because of the TM. There are now so pleased with the end result that we've been booked to clean all the other floors with the same process. But if we'd left it as it was initially after the HWE we'd have been thrown out on our ear, so it just proves, it's horses for courses.
(We are going to try LM only on one of the floors....gulp!!)

Simon

[Dave Roberts]

The mistake people most often make when trying Rotary Carpet Cleaning for the first time is that they wrongly expect a standard bonnet pad to give them good results.  It won't.  If you just pre-spray, then buff with a pad and some solution, you won't get good results. (Just the same as if you just pre-sprayed and extracted with HWE you wouldn't get good results).

It's vital to have a strong source of agitation.   If you have an Envirodry, an old HOST machine, even an Oreck with the Brush (too small really) that's good.  Nothing (in my opinion) beats the 'Restore Brush' from Dry Fusion but as it only fits the DF machine, it's of no use for someone with a standard rotary.

If you don't have a CRB machine, don't have a DF Restore Brush, the next best thing (in my opinion) is an XR Grey Pad from SolutionUK. 

Considering the above, here's my workflow, and I have genuinely restored some trashed end of tenancy carpets with this approach:

1. Thorough Pre-Vac (there's no argument that it's optional in rotary cleaning),

2. Pre-Treat any spots that I think the cleaning process may need help with (ie.. those requiring solvent treatment etc). Any that needed a lot of work, I will use a small CFR spotter to extract rinse them (see, I'm not adverse to water extraction! Rare though).

2. Light to medium pre-spray with a solution that is powerful but doesn't need rinsing. I use either M-Power, Fusion Clean, or Activator (if doing Dry Fusion process).

3. Five minutes dwell prior to agitation.  (Good time to get the machine out of the van).

4. Thorough N/S/E/W agitation using either DF Restore Brush (synthetic or low wool mix) or a HOST CRB machine, using gold brushes (wool or thick cut pile). I never rush this stage; it's the real cleaning stage, especially with Rotary Cleaning.  The spot areas may get some extra pre-spray and extra brushing.   If you don't have a CRB machine, then this is where you'd use the XR Grey Pad on your rotary.  Almost as effective.

5. Mix up HOT solution in the bucket and put in the first pad.   Leave in for 2 mins then thoroughly wring out.

6. Place on carpet, in an open area that I am going to be able to manouvre around quickly. Obviously most of the solution is going to leave the pad in the first few seconds of action, so it is VERY important to move quickly with the rotary and spread out the solution evenly.

7. Lower the machine onto the pad and as above, move quickly to spread the solution.  I only ever work on an area of 20m2 at a time, with 1 pad.   Work back over the area, evenly working the solution.   

8. Flip over the pad and go over the same area again. With the DF machine this side of the pad will be hot & dry from the blower so it will greatly help absorb the soil and dry the carpet.

9. Repeat the process for all areas of the carpet.

10. Thorough post-vac.  This helps reset the pile and also picks up any loose debris, dirt and loose fibres. (rare).

11. Groom with a brush.   Result = lovely clean, fresh, stain-free, stain-blocked, de-odourized carpet.

Cheers,

Dave.